


Causality Was Meant To Be Broken

by Verthril



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-20 20:05:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3663240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verthril/pseuds/Verthril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doing what they do best, the Big Hero 6 team saves the day never knowing they just saved the youngest of a band of real live superheros. Now Hiro's in over his head - Diagnosis : Romance, Fred's living the dream, and the rest of the gang are along for the ride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

Marvel owns the X-men, while Disney owns Big Hero 6. No profit is to be made from this work.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

To anyone who might have been standing in the alley at the time, not that there was anyone, the first thing they would have noticed in one dark corner would have been a shimmer of a mirage as seen on a hot day. Had they blinked they would have heard a noise they could only describe as a _Bamf_ as the very air was forced out of the way to make room for something else. Only then they would have noticed four people standing where before that blink of the eye there had been none.

"Okay, where the heck are we..." Equal parts a Femme Fatale and a Southern Belle, Rogue choked on everything else she had been saying the moment she got an eye full of Hank, who as a matter of fact was out of uniform.

"Hey Remy, why are you covering my eyes?" Just because she was used to being treated like a kid, mostly because she wasn't yet even fourteen, it didn't mean Jubilee liked it.

"Petite, trust Remy on this, you don need to see what we be seeing. Chere, would you loan Henry my coat?"

Stunned, shocked, and speechless, Hank was busy trying to pull up his minimalist uniform of, well, rather much a Speedo. The mutant, whose aptly chosen codename was Beast, found himself now a man once more whose frame no longer supported his drawers (which made for a poor entrance as they fell to his ankles). Blushing from his embarrassment and thankful that Jubilee hadn't been facing him a moment before, he gladly accepted the offered trench coat...even if it painted him a tad much like a flasher looking for a cheap thrill.

"I can smell trash, are we in an alley? Cuz after a world where the Savage Land was the norm I need me a shower." Suffering Remy still hiding her eyes, Jubilee ran the heel of her high tops against what she thought felt like good ol' asphalt.

"We sure as heck are sweetpea, but that ain't the half of it." Blushing just as bright as Hank, Rogue couldn't stop from gawking at her once blue, furry friend.

"I believe I'm decent Remy, I must thank you for your hasty saving of our young Jubilation's innocence."

Turning to find out just what the heck was going on, however normally verbose Jubilee might be she was speechless at seeing Hank.

"I have a hypothesis I would like to check, might you try and charge something Remy?" Hank asked in his usually genial tone, it took much to make him angry after all (and like peer of his, most wouldn't want to see him angry).

With his playing cards in his trench coat, Remy crouched for a bottle cap he noticed in amongst the trash of the alley. Holding it between his foremost two fingers, try as he might to will his power to work it would not. Flicking the cap with unerring aim at a dumpster, he gave a shrug.

"Does this mean our powers don't work on this world?" Jubilee asked with a puzzled wrinkle of her brow.

No sooner had Jubilee announced his hypothesis did Hank look to Rogue with a sympathetic smile. If she had been shocked before, now she could hardly believe what she was hearing. Tentatively she stripped a glove away and reached out to Remy who encouraged her with a flirtatious smile. To feel his rough stubble against her bare hand, to trace her thumb down his jaw to his lips, it was all too much for Rogue to believe as she started to cry.

Brushing a finger against her cheek to catch one tear, Remy leaned in without any hesitation to kiss her. Slow and gentle at first as they tiptoed through their inhibitions, their long denied passion engulfing them in inflamed heat as they pulled another into a hungry embrace.

"Whoa, usually I'd say get a room, but damn...go Roguey!" Jubilee cheered as she watched the lovers surrender to another, "Wait a minute Hank, does this mean you're naked under that coat?!"

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"San Fransokyo? Weird." Staring at the sights of the familiar mingled together, Jubilee had been both to San Francisco and Tokyo alike, but never anything like this.

"Perhaps in this world it was a blending of Empires that gave this city it's history, the Japanese and Spanish?" Hank mused as he read the headlines of a corner newspaper box.

"Man, you do this every world, try to figure out just what did or didn't happen to skew things sideways! I don't know about you but after we get you some clothes I want to play tourist and have a genuine vacation. I mean what has it been? Months of crazy ass words filled with modern day Great Depressions, Dinosaurs, Ice Ages, and even a zombie apocalypse that was so not cool!"

"I'm with Jubes. And you know I gotta say this Hank, but for Remy and me this is a damned fine world to take a break on." Rogue added with a ruffle of Jubilee's hair.

"I'm forced to agree. Frankly given our random hopping across the multiverse, perhaps this world might offer me a chance to properly investigate what went wrong with this ahem, time travel device that has cast us so far from home." Adjusting the strap of what looked a bit larger than a Smart Watch, Hank gave the screen a polish and looked to the readings. "Frankly it could use a recharge, too many hasty jumps has nearly depleted its battery."

Bouncing about with a bubbly cheer, Jubilee offered Rogue a high five and a hug. Smiling at his compatriots, Hank did his best to appear casual with all the attention they were garnering from the locals. From Rogue's and Remy's outfits to his own state of questionable dress, quite a few disapproving looks were cast their way with a few worrying ones for Jubilee herself.

"But first and before anything else, pants!" Hank added, it was rather drafty under Remy's duster.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

Racing through the streets of San Fransokyo, Hiro ran with Wasabi at his back and GoGo only a distant blur of yellow ahead of them. As much as he missed riding Baymax for a hot pursuit, helping the hurt was the reason his brother had designed him so he was better put to use on scene until the paramedics arrived.

"Sign, sign, really big sign!" Hiro yelped.

"Hit the deck!" Rushing to the lead, Wasabi struck down the street marquee with the furious slashing of his plasma blades that left the now smaller chunks tumbling into traffic.

"Whoa ho ho dudes! That was rad!"

"Fred!?"

Bounding and bouncing into the chase, Fred scooped Hiro up with a joyful holler before his next giant leap. Screaming for his life as he clung to Fred, Hiro cracked open an eye as the tickle in his tummy told that gravity had lost track of them for the moment. Blinking in a wide eyed disbelief that reminded him of Baymax's first test flight, it was a moment where the fear was forgotten in favour of the sheer thrill to soar through the sky.

"There she is!" Hiro pointed, catching sight of GoGo chasing after a new breed of criminal with a penchant for robbing banks.

Seedy as Bot Fighting was, after their debut as heros a new breed of criminal had risen throughout San Fransokyo, putting their tried and tested tech to use in a new illicit enterprise that the police were woefully ill-equipped to handle.

"Hang on little dude!" Fred roared, scoring a landing that even the worst Olympic judge would have reluctantly given a ten to.

Ricocheting off a building to vault down a new street, they soared towards Gogo who darted around the thief dressed in his armour of modified battle bot tech. But all Hiro could see was the girl held as a hostage, a girl who looked no older than himself. It wasn't rage that ran through his veins but fear, a fear that filled him with a need to save her. Fast as she was, GoGo was hard pressed to duck and dodge the rapid fire buzz saw blades the thief flung with complete negligence for the bystanders caught up in the skirmish, trapped hiding behind cars or ducked into doorways for cover.

"We have to stop this!"

"How?!" Fred didn't sound so much scared as much as he was eager for a plan of action.

Glancing at his newly added HUD that let play the tactician to his team, in it Hiro saw the answer to defeating this villain. The counter that measured his distance from Baymax raced towards zero, and if there was one thing he knew about Baymax, it was that he couldn't leave until the patient had been satisfied with their care. It was time for the team to get back together and do what they did best, put their brains together to save the day.

"GoGo, keep him focussed on you! Honey! Get the crowd some cover, something sticky that can take a hit from a buzz saw! Fred? Catch Wasabi and cut this guy off so he can't get away!"

"What are you going to do Hiro?!" Fred asked at the height of his arc.

Smiling as he jumped clear, Hiro was going to trust Baymax to catch him.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

One minute Jubilee was super happy to find out her cash was on par with the locals, wanting nothing more than some street meat and a can of coke to wash it down with after her stay in a world where the Dinosaurs reigned supreme, the next she was watching Remy, Rogue and Hank shrink in the distance. Her chest hurt as she struggled, but try as she might she couldn't get free from whatever was holding her.

That was about ten minutes ago, and now she was way stoked to find out that this world at least had some Heros to step up to the loser dude holding her hostage.

"Seriously?! How many kinds of messed up are you?! Throwing fricking saw blades into a crowd like a B List Bad Guy that Spidey wouldn't work up a sweat to beat!"

"Shut up!"

"Oh my god, even your speakers suck! What did jack those outta? A Gremlin?"

Running her mouth was her specialty, a tried and tested tactic of getting the big bad villain so pissed he'd make a mistake, then it was clean up in Aisle Whoop Ass for the heros. Usually she'd be on that side, but as much as she might be afraid of cutting loose with her powers, right about now she would kill to dish out a paf pumped up by how pissed she was.

Squinting into the distance to do a double take, it almost looked like Iron Man was coming to save the day. It was kind of hard to see with how she was being jolted about as the big bad kept trying to hit the cool chick racing circles around him, but if there was one thing she could guess, she was about to be saved by a literal Fist of Justice that was getting bigger as it got closer.

"Et Mocket Fust." Jubilee mumbled, trying to keep her smug smirk in check as she braced for what was to come.

"What?!" Her robosuited captor screamed in his rage.

"I said...Eat Rocket Fist!"

All her bravado was forgotten as the impact reached her to jar every bone, muscle and fibre of her being. Expecting a nasty case of road rash as she tumbled to the pavement, she was caught in a blur of yellow. Cracking open an eye, her saviour looked nonplussed as she blew a bright pink bubble.

"I dig your outfit." Jubilee croaked with a whimper of pain.

"Hang tight kid, we'll get you checked out once we take this guy down to size."

Squeaking and squealing as her heroine raced behind the bright blue globs of...globby stuff, Jubilee was plopped down on one of the surprisingly comfortable, if sort of sticky, things. Struggling against the flypaper grip, she squirmed her way up to peek past and watch the fight.

While they might not be the Avengers, there was a haphazard teamwork to see as they covered one another, tearing the big bad down to size.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Honey! Feet!"

"Got it!"

Fluttering her fingers over the touchpad of her combat purse, Honey Lemon threw the chemical cocktails at the massive feet of the towering armoured bank robber. Yelping as his ire fell on her, a blast of flame harried him from even thinking to attack. Giving Fred a thumbs up, Honey ducked for cover behind the blue globs she had littered the street in to find a man crouched there holding tightly to his leather duster.

"Hi! Don't be afraid, we're here to save you." Honey promised, reassuring the bystanders of their safety was something Baymax always talked about in their scuffles.

"So I've seen, you've already done a wonderful job saving my young compatriot from this brute who had taken her hostage."

"Aw, thank you!"

"Might I ask after this purse of yours?" He was too polite and well spoken for Honey not to blush at his every compliment and question.

"It's my mini-lab, I just type in the formula here...I'm a huge chemistry nerd by the way, and out comes..." Tapping away the formula for a bouncy, pink cocktail, a little ball popped out for her to show off with an enthused grin that matched the absolute glee in her eyes.

"Fascinating." Her curiously dressed gentleman exclaimed.

"Ooo, actually this just gave me an idea. Excuse me, I have to get back to saving you."

"Absolutely my dear lady, might I say how kind it is of you to do so."

Blushing again, Honey rushed back into the fray with her brainstorm brimming. It was time to let Hiro in on his part of her plan to put an end to this fight.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Alright Baymax, full thrust!"

Honey Lemon's plan was brilliant in it's simplicity, all it needed was one good knock to set it off. Flying in at full speed with his fist poised for a strike, Baymax looked like a classic comic book hero from Fred's immense collection. Speaking of which...

"This is gonna be so awesome!" Fred cheered over the com, seen as an ever growing bouncy beast doing his best to keep the bank robber distracted.

Slamming fist first into the hardened armour, Hiro felt enough of the impact through Baymax's shock absorbers to imagine just how bad it must have been for whoever was piloting the enormous battle bot. By the time Bay flipped about to fly back and land with everyone else, the robber was a blur of armour bouncing from one pink glob to the next, firmly anchored as he was at the feet to the pavement to look like the classic inflatable punching bag clown.

"Oh gross, I think he was just sick in there...I just might be sick myself." Wasabi winced, horrified to even imagine the mess.

"Scan complete. The patient is suffering from disorientation and nausea, I suggest a Dimenhydrinate tablet, commonly marketed as Dramamine or Gravol."

"Honey?" Hiro asked, feeling green himself just looking at the hypnotic motion of the now beaten robber.

Typing away a new formula into her purse, Honey tossed a yellow ball at the closest bouncy pink glob. Instantly it changed to catch the robber in a sticky splash that hardened instantly, suitably cementing the better part of his battle armour to the street. In the quiet that had fallen upon the battleground, the distant sound of sirens and blasts of horns heralded the arrival of the police and the local fire department.

"Wait, where's the girl?"

"I put her over there." Pointing off to one glob, GoGo zipped over only to find out the girl was gone.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Man, I wanted to thank them. It's not ever day I'm the one to get saved, well except by you guys." Jubilee grumbled.

"Well it ain't like we got any ID on us for when the cops showed up, and they're just as likely to cart Hank off with them for being buck ass naked."

As much as she wanted to mouth off to Rogue, she was right and Jubilee knew it. Wincing from too deep a breath, Hank figured she might have bruised her ribs after her run in with the dweeb who kidnapped her, which totally sucked.

"It seems the directions our good Samaritan was so kind enough to give were spot on, a thrift shop just where they said it would be. Until we can replenish our war chest as it were, I suppose a frugal shopping trip would be the best."

Catching looks for all the wrong reasons, Jubilee was the only one dressed at all normal out of them. Rogue was getting all the kind of wrong attention in her catsuit, while Remy could probably pull off anything and make it look sexy. Just the same jeans and a shirt instead of his Thieves Guild body armour would help him blend in a bit better.

"Cool, can I have some cash to get a bite? There's a ramen cart over there and I'm starving!"

"Of course, we shouldn't be too long so just wait for us. I think we could all use something to eat after that last world."

"Sweet, a twenty, and I already know...bring back the change."

Try as she might to appear grumpy as Remy ruffled her hair, it was enough to bring out a stubborn smile. They were her family, and she was glad she'd been there with Remy and Rogue when Hank had gotten to tinkering with that stupid time jumper thing that caused this whole mess. Every time she thought of Hank having to make this trek alone left her feeling immensely lonely, so she was glad to be along for the ride as there was no way he wouldn't get them back home.

"Hey Roguey! Don't forget to get a bikini, and snag me something to swim in, you know my size!" Jubilee shouted after her friends, grinning at Remy as he perked up from imagining his lady love in a tiny little two piece.

Skipping up to the ramen cart to grab a stool, she ordered up a bowl with shrimp and felt herself nearly drooling from the aroma of the soup boiling away in a big pot. By the time her bowl was set down for her, she was ravenous but remembered her manners with a quick arigato in respect to all the ramen shop etiquette Wolvie had taught her.

"I'll have what she's having."

Checking out the newcomer, the first thing Jubilee noticed that he was pretty cute and totally around her age, major bonus points. The second thing she noticed was the giant marshmallow man following him.

"...uh, what's that?" Pointing with her chopsticks at the very hard to miss...whatever it was, in her experience cute always didn't mean harmless...or so Lockheed had taught her, Kitty's sort of but not quite actually a pet dragon.

"Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."

"My who what now?" Slurping up a noddle, Jubilee looked to the cute boy for an explanation to just what the heck was going on.

"He's a robot, and also my friend. My brother programmed him with an insane amount of medical knowledge so Baymax could help people."

"That's...pretty cool actually. How does he work?"

"Well..." Cute boy started to say until he got cut off by Baymax, the walking talking marshmallow robot.

"Scan complete. You have numerous epidermal abrasions, contusions, and bruised ribs. I also detect moderate malnutrition..."

"...you try eating Remy's dino gumbo." Jubilee muttered, slurping noisily at her soup.

"Malnutrition?"

Staring down into her bowl to avoid her cute boy looking straight up worried and confused, Jubilee hadn't forgotten what it was like to be hungry and having no money because the days payout putting on a show had been crap. But those days were behind her, she had a home now with friends that felt like family, it was just...worlds away, but she wasn't alone. Pecking at her boiled egg, she wanted to tell him the real reason she was hungry but then she'd sound freaking crazy.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–+=-

Trust Baymax to scan someone in the middle of a fight, that was just the bot he was...just the friend he was. Finding the girl hadn't been that hard, finding an alley to land in, well that was harder due to the stink. Stripping out of his Hero's get up so he could get to packing up everything that made Baymax his version 2.0 self, Fred was a genius to think up the idea for armour that folded into a briefcase. Trusting his little battle bot to guard it all, Hiro rushed out into the street to see the girl he'd been trying to save sitting at a ramen cart.

That was an introduction that felt like it'd been a lifetime ago after Baymax so clinically read out all the injuries the girl had picked up after being taken hostage, and something else that he couldn't even imagine...

"Malnutrition?" Hiro could have been rocket punched to the stomach for how much it hurt to see her look down at her ramen like it was the first real meal she had enjoyed in days.

"I'm Hiro, Hiro Hamada." Aunt Cass was always going on about introducing himself properly.

"Jubilee..."

She looked like she was expecting him to laugh at her name, but all he could do was smile and think of his friends who all went by the nicknames Fred dreamed up.

"Can I get this for you?"

Slurping up the last of her of ramen, Jubilee set the bowl down with an arigato and the chopsticks laid across the rim. But as she sat there sipping her glass of water, Hiro caught her peeking at him with a mix of indecision and stubborn pride in her eyes, looking like she wanted to say no but couldn't.

"It's not what you think." Jubilee whispered with her lips tightly pinched, picking at a stain on the counter.

"I...I don't think anything. I...just wanted to buy a cute girl dinner." Hiro stammered, dreading that any second now Baymax would diagnose everything wrong with him as puberty.

And Jubilee was cute, more than cute actually, so to see her looking upset was the exact opposite of what he had hoped for. All Hiro wanted to do was smack his head off the counter until his brain came up with a solution...

"Hiro!"

...but then his friends found him.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Now why ain't I surprised ta find you loitering around the books? Lookin' good by the way, Hank." Rogue remarked as she leaned up at one of the shelves filled with secondhand books.

"I've found a few that are quite illuminating, including one that tells the history of San Fransokyo. It would seem after the 1906 Earthquake that Japanese immigrants helped with the rebuilding of the city, which resulted in the blending of cultures and a change of name from the San Francisco we know."

"That's great Hank, but can ya get yer nose outta a book for two shakes of a lambs tail to tell me what ya think of these? I need a man's opinion." Rogue asked after a peek over her shoulder to make sure Remy was still busy in the changing rooms, holding up two similar bikinis, one for herself and Jubilee.

"I believe you will look stunning, and Jubilation undoubtably have the young men smitten. One can only hope there is a lifeguard available for the hearts you set aflutter."

"Ain't you just a sweet talker," Rushing up to give Hank a quick peck on the cheek, all the affectionate little touches she'd been denied for so long were there for her to enjoy. "I'm gonna go pay and see about gettin' a bite to eat with our lil troublemaker, I'll see you boys when you're done here."

Chuckling as he was left alone, Hank added a few more books to his basket to then take a wander through the assorted cast off electronics. Expecting to see old discmans, perhaps even a tape deck or two, vcrs and dvd players, Hank marvelled at some of the things he found, if just for the price tag. Picking up what he thought was a toy, it was far too weighty and complex to be for a child. Turning it over, the quality of the actuators were remarkable.

"You don't look like any of the usual scrappers I see in here." An older lady said as she stocked the shelves from her trolley.

"I'm a bit of a tourist actually, might I ask what you meant by scrapper?"

Heading on over, the lady had a critical look at the rather robotlike toy that had caught Hank's eye.

"Yep, just as I thought. A battle bot. We usually get a steady trickle of them in, mostly parents thinking it was just some toy their kid outgrew or left behind when they went off to college. A lot of scrappers come on in here lookin' for diamonds in the rough, but mostly they just tear them down for parts to sell at meets."

"So, this is a robot meant for...?"

"Bot fighting, which isn't illegal per say, but betting on the fight sure is. The grey gets mixed in with the black and white, so getting caught at a bot fight, betting or not, is a quick way to get tossed in the clink."

"That would be an unfortunate development to be caught up in something like that on my, ahem, vacation."

"Well, if I was you, which I'm not, but if I were and I was looking for a few easy bucks so I could enjoy the sights, I'd buy these guys here before anyone else can. I got a couple more on my cart if you want 'em. As much as the cops might not like it, a bot fighter meet ain't illegal, and it's a good place to test your metal against the folks that do it just for fun."

"If they're worth money to the right individual, why do you have them priced as toys?"

Squinting up at Hank like she was really seeing him for the first time, the old gal cracked a wizened smile with a sparkle in her eyes. "Mostly it's for the kids, for all the trouble they can get into with bot fighting, at least they're using their head to learn something. That and I don't want them sitting on the shelf too long, I don't need my shop drawing the wrong kind of crowd."

Adding a few broken down battle bots to his basket, all for the price of a fancy cup of coffee, Hank gave the woman a respectful bow as he headed off to pay. It seemed fate had smiled on him and his friends, woefully low funds as they were. Yet beneath it all, Hank felt a little giddy at the prospect of tearing down the unfamiliar tech if just to see how it worked.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Hey Jubes, I hope you like this one!"

Wondering just what Rogue was talking about, Jubilee turned to see her flashing a bikini that...while yes, she totally dug it...was the worst moment to be showing it around. Jumping from her stool to charge at Rogue, Jubilee glanced back at Hiro to catch him staring. And here she was thinking her first impression couldn't get any worse after that stupid robot of his started budding his nose into her business...not that he had a nose, or a mouth...or even ears.

"Rogue, put that away!" Jubilee snapped.

"Well ain't ya even gonna hold it against ya for an inkling of how you'll look in it? Here's mine, kinda close right?"

Great, and now Hiro's guy friends were probably picturing Rogue in her bikini. Snatching hers, Jubilee folded it up and stuffed the top and bottom into either of her jacket pockets.

"Hiro, your hormonal levels have increased. Diagnosis: arousal, common in pubescent males."

"Baymax!" Hiro shrieked, staring up at his bot in sheer and complete horror.

Try as she might not to smile, Jubilee couldn't help but crack a grin at Hiro now that she wasn't the only one getting embarrassed by her friends.

"So who are your friends sweetpea?"

"Rogue, guys. Guys, Rogue. That's GoGo, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, and...Fred. They're the ones who saved me, but I'm guessing you could probably figure that out." She didn't think there was any point introducing Hiro or Baymax after just what had happened.

"She knows!? How did you figure it out? Do you have secret mind reading powers? Wait, wait, what am I thinking right now?" Fred asked in all seriousness.

"...I'm guessing he was the guy in the big lizard costume?" Jubilee asked.

"Don't mind Fred, he's the comic book geek to us nerds." Wasabi said, trying to find a polite way to explain Fred.

"How did ya find us?" None the least bit worried since Jubilee had been looking plenty friendly with them up until she had embarrassed the poor girl, Rogue just had to satisfy her own curiosity.

"Turns out the marshmallow is some kind of robot nurse, he kinda scanned me. He even gave me a little first aid while you guys were shopping...along with healthy eating guide since he's saying I'm malnourished. Speaking of eating, Hiro invited us to his Aunt Cass's Cafe for their victory party."

"Woo hoo! Aunt Cass's Atomic Chicken Wings! One day I'll eat enough of them to really breath fire out of my mouth!" Fred cheered.

"No, no. We're having none of that again after what you did to the lab washroom the last time you tried it! And like we told you, just because Aunt Cass calls them Atomic doesn't mean they're actually radioactive!" Wasabi shrieked.

"He's right Fred," Honey Lemon admitted with a sympathetic smile, "I had to concoct a new cleaning solution after that, which...was kind of fun actually. Oh you should have seen how well it worked!"

"Well I ain't one to turn down a bite to eat, why don't I go gather up the boys?" Heading back on into the thrift shop, Rogue threw Jubilee a wink in parting.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"It's my gentleman!" Honey cheered on seeing Hank.

"My dear lady, might I say you are even more beautiful than I remember. I take you're done saving the day for today?"

Snapping her gum, GoGo eyed up the newcomers. It was easy to see that the guy Rogue had on her arm was her boyfriend, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Blowing a bubble as she looked at the guy Honey was chatting with, she looked back to Jubilee. There was a story to them, that was for sure, but right now she had only one question she wanted an answer to.

"So, why did you run?"

GoGo wanted to like Jubilee, first impression or not she reminded her a lot of herself when she was younger. Offering a chunk of Hubba Bubba to smooth things over, the way Jubilee melted in bliss from something a simple as bubblegum was just another question piling up with the rest.

"You in some sort of trouble?"

"We're just a little lost." Jubilee mumbled, blowing a big bubble so she wouldn't have to say more.

Blowing a bubble herself, GoGo looked off to where Hiro was trying to not look like he was watching her and Jubilee but failing miserably. There were times he really looked too much like Tadashi and this was one of them, all it'd take would be a few more years and a haircut to really see the resemblance.

"You...don't like Hiro do you? I mean aren't you a little old for him?" Squinting up at her to ask a couple questions her own, Jubilee snapped her gum in time to GoGo.

"Don't worry pipsqueak, he's all yours," GoGo said with a dismissive shrug that put Jubilee on the defensive, sputtering and stammering as she tried to think up a comeback, "He just reminds me of his big brother."

"Oh," Looking just as deflated as her bubblegum, Jubilee looked from GoGo to Hiro and back, "...he's dead, isn't he?"

And that was a question GoGo couldn't bring herself to ask, how a girl Hiro's age knew to pick the right question out of the sad regret in her voice when she spoke of Tadashi. Pulling Jubilee to her side, GoGo stood there with her leaning up against Wasabi's car to watch their friends all getting along together. Her gut told her that they were just two sides of the same coin, so that was enough for her as she gave Jubilee a shove towards Hiro.

"Hey!" Jubilee yelled as she stumbled.

"Woman up."

Rolling her eyes at the kid's stink eye, Jubilee was way too young to even bother batting a lash at as GoGo held her in her disinterested gaze, slowly blowing a bubble with a look of complete boredom. Lucky for her the bubble hid her faint smirk as Jubilee stalked off to Hiro. She might have missed her chance with Tadashi, thinking she had all the time in the world to woman up herself, but GoGo wasn't about to let his baby brother miss his shot at his first girlfriend, even if it only lasted a week at best.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"...thanks for the ramen." Jubilee mumbled as she walked up to Hiro.

"Thanks, uh, I mean you're welcome. Wait, didn't Fred pick up the bill?"

"Lizard dude?" Jubilee asked, looking back to the guy who in her opinion had stoner written all over him.

"Please don't encourage him." Hiro pleaded, even if he was the worst offender after making Fred a fire breathing monster suit.

"You got some cool friends."

"Thanks." He really did, all thanks to Tadashi and his nerd lab.

Trying to think of something to say, he'd never had an awkward silence with a girl before. Mostly because, well, all the girls he knew were way too old for him. Too smart for his own good, he cut his teeth on robotics with his bot fighting, the youngest contender hustling the hustlers. All until Tadashi challenged him to do something with that big brain of his...

"Whoa..."

Too bad for him, while they could take the boy out of the bot fight, they couldn't take the bot fighter out of the boy. Rushing up to the guy talking to Honey, Hiro snatched the bot that had been dangling from his bag.

"What's that?" Jubilee asked, leaning in way too close to Hiro.

"Uh," Hiro sputtered as he noticed how warm she felt against his shoulder, "You, you don't know about bot fighting?"

"Oh! Bot Fighting? Pfft, of course I do! I mean who doesn't, right?" Jubilee said with a forced laugh until she noticed he wasn't buying what she was selling, "Should I?"

"You paid how much for this?!" He didn't mean to ignore Jubilee, but he just couldn't help but ask because it was too unreal to believe.

"All in total for the few bots I found thanks to some courteous and insightful assistance, three dollars." Hank replied, busy as he was talking to Honey.

"Whoa dude, don't have a heart attack." Jubilee warned as she saw Hiro go pale.

"My hands are equipped with defibrillators."

Shrieking with Jubilee as Baymax snuck up on them, Hiro jumped clear as she ducked behind Hank and Honey. But as Hiro looked at Baymax, he couldn't help but think the robot would have been smiling if he could, because Baymax had just played it straight deadpan with no defibrillators to be seen.

"Humour makes me a better healthcare companion."

"Yeah, okay buddy. We just have to work on your delivery." Hiro admitted with a laugh as he got up.

"So...Atomic Chicken Wings?" Jubilee prodded, shoving her shoulder against Hiro.

"Uh, yeah. Hey guys! Lets head to my Aunt's!" Peeking sidelong at Jubilee, an idea struck him as he counted seatbelts against everyone, knowing Wasabi was a stickler for the rules of the road, "It's not far if you want to walk..."

"Sure."

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

Trailing in behind all his friends, new and old alike, Hiro was a step into following after them up to Aunt Cass's place above the Café when he fell short because his hoodie was suddenly choking him.

"Uh, hi Aunt Cass." Hiro said, giving a nervous chuckle as he realized how she was watching Jubilee jog up the stairs with Honey and GoGo.

"So? Who is she?" Aunt Cass whispered with a brilliant smile as she followed Jubilee up the stairs.

"...a girl I met."

"Oh, my little Hiro's brought home his first girl!"

"Aunt Cass!" She was worse than Baymax.

"Aunt Cass nothing! What's her name? Wait, don't tell me. I'll come up with some extra special treats along with a platter of wings and that hot sauce Fred can't get enough of, and then you can introduce me to this new _girl_ friend of yours." Aunt Cass rambled, "Oh she's just so cute! Go, go! Shoo, don't you keep her waiting! You can tell me all about how you met later."

Cringing as he noticed all the regulars grinning at him, some amused and others offering him their sympathy, Hiro took his chance to escape before Aunt Cass could embarrass him any further. It wasn't like he hadn't brought home girls before, he'd done it plenty of times, Honey and GoGo were girls after all, well, kinda more ladies, where Jubilee was undoubtedly a girl. She was pretty, cute, sort of stubborn, and when he looked right she had this vulnerable side she tried to hide that made her look so soft and warm.

Rubbing his shoulder as he remembered her warmth, Hiro jogged up the stairs to catch up with all his friends. About ready to tell them to expect wings in twenty, the best and brightest brains he knew were busy watching Baymax's belly like the television as it played the impossible, flashing equations and atomic structures that were...yeah, impossible.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Scan complete."

Seconds ago Honey had asked about his watch, which actually wasn't a watch but instead futuristic if not alien technology meant for time travel. To his surprise, delight, and a tad bit of dread, Hank watched technical wire frames, undiscovered atomic elements, and rather good equations flash across the belly of Baymax. If he had been curious about the robot before, now he was absolutely smitten.

"I, I, I...don't recognize any of these elements and I memorized the periodic table when I was six!" Honey gasped, looking from Baymax to Hank for an answer.

"Most are synthetic, not so much manmade as much as they were made by an, ahem, intellect further advanced then ourselves." Hank just couldn't lie to those imploring, beautiful eyes that lit up from a conversation about ionic bonds.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. When you say intellect, do you mean aliens?" Fred asked in all sober seriousness.

"Perhaps, or perhaps from a possible future some tens of thousands of years ahead of us."

If there was one thing Hank was starting to understand, it was that Fred had in him a vast ability to accept the fantastic as fact, so to see him speechless was every bit as unsettling for him as his friends.

"So what does that make you?" GoGo asked, doing the unthinkable as she tossed her gum into a trash can.

"Lost?" Jubilee offered, finding her feet interesting.

"My understanding was that this device was meant to travel time, unfortunately when I thought to run a diagnostic it accidentally activated in a manner not as intended. Rather than through time, it was through space we travelled, the space between worlds."

"You're from another universe?!" Wasabi cried as he was finally able to tear himself free from everything that played across Baymax's belly.

"I confess it might be hard to believe, but I assure you it is the truth. After everything you've done for us in our brief acquaintance of one another, it is the least we owe you now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag."

And in the dark pit of his stomach, Hank felt a touch ill at how self serving he was being in that admission. Mere nerds these were not but geniuses in their own right, and just perhaps they could help him in finding a way home for him and his friends.

"Baymax?" Hiro asked from the stairs, surprising everyone by his arrival.

"Heart rate, respiratory functions, and neutral transmitter levels indicate he is not lying, and he shows no symptoms associated with mental illness."

"Thanks, so we're not lying and we're not crazy? Awesome. You got a shower I can use since that's all over with?" Jubilee muttered.

"I got it Hiro." GoGo said as she jumped to her feet to show Jubilee the way.

Offering Rogue a smile as she also joined GoGo and the youngest of them, Hank settled down in a chair only to feel a delicate touch upon his arm. Turning to see Miss Honey Lemon looking on him with a sympathy he didn't think he deserved, Hank took her hand in his with his eyes full of the apology he owed her.

"Might I introduce myself properly my dear lady? Dr. Henry McCoy at your service, and if I might be a braggart I would admit to being a renowned geneticist in my world, while here I find myself a simple vagabond."

"Does that mean you're familiar with organic chemistry?" Honey asked with abated breath.

"Certainly my dear, I could drone on for hours."

"Please do, I never get bored from organic chemistry, it's just so, well...organic."

-=+=–=+=–=+=-


	2. Chapter 2

Marvel owns the X-men, while Walt Disney owns Big Hero 6. No profit is to be made from this work.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

“The space between worlds...?” Hiro whispered, his voice too loud for how quiet everyone had gone.

He’d been there himself with Baymax, he’d even thought he’d lost his best friend to Hyperspace as they set out to do the right thing, to save Professor Callaghan’s daughter. Hiding his face in his hands, Hiro sucked a breath to calm himself from the visions of what Abigail’s fate might have been had they not saved her.

Cuddly balloon arms wrapped him up in a warm and welcome hug that bespoke of Baymax’s concern, and Hiro did indeed feel cold as he thought of what might have been had Baymax not caught Abigail’s life signs from the portal. Looking around to shake off these dark thoughts, he saw Fred busy chatting the ear off the self professed Doctor McCoy while Remy and Wasabi indulged in some quiet conversation in the kitchen as coffee brewed and a kettle boiled on the stove.

Wondering just where Honey had gotten off to while he was distracted, she came quietly traipsing up the hall from the bath with an armlful of clothes. It was only then that he realized just whose they were and felt a different kind of warmth run through him to make Baymax’s efforts moot.

“Do you think Aunt Cass would mind if I did some laundry?” Honey asked ever so politely.

“Um, no, actually I should probably get mine too...” Hiro admitted, he had a weeks worth piling up in his hamper.

“Do you have anything she could borrow while you’re up there?”

Halfway up the stairs to his room, Hiro didn’t have to ask who the she in question was. Dumbly nodding to save having to try and think of anything to say, he ran up the last few stairs and dashed to his dresser. If Honey was doing laundry then that meant Jubilee would probably just need something to sit out the dry cycle, looking through his shorts with a critical eye.

Snagging his usual with plenty of pockets, he found his favourite T-shirt and then started wondering about what she’d be wearing under it. The memory of a glimpse of a bikini was enough to make him glad Baymax wasn’t there to embarrass him again, he was doing a good enough job on his own.

“Shorts? Shirt? Hmm, socks?”

Rummaging, he found a brand new pair he’d yet to wear, undeniably soft and warm. Snagging his hamper, Hiro rushed on down to the laundry room and found Honey waiting.

“Uh, will this do?” Hiro asked, offering up the shorts, shirt and socks.

“Perfect, I’ll go give them to her!”

Thinking he’d start the laundry since Honey had left a neat little pile of clothes on the dryer, he pulled his hand back as a flash of something white peeked out from beneath the bright pink T-shirt he remembered Jubilee wearing. Suddenly laundry had become a little too intimate...

“I’ll let Honey handle that...” Hiro said to himself, tossing his own laundry in.

“Handle what, Little Man?”

“Ahh!” yelped Hiro, jumping half out of his skin as he noticed Wasabi wandering down the hall with a mug of coffee and hot cocoa.

“N, nothing!”

Breathing a sigh of relief as Wasabi shrugged off his behaviour with a friendly smile and an offered mug of hot cocoa, Hiro followed after him back to their friends talking in the living room. Any minute now Aunt Cass would probably be up with wings and all sorts of questions for him about just who Jubilee was and how he’d met her, and he couldn’t think up a good answer to any of those questions.

So, we saved her from a bank robber in a battle bot body armour suit. Oh, her friends and her just happen to be from another universe. And by the way, Baymax and us go around the city being the heros you’ve probably seen on the news saving the day like at Krei Tech...

Running through the impossible explanation to imagine Aunt Cass’s reaction, all Hiro could think of was the time she bailed him and Tadashi out of jail because of his bot fighting. Rubbing his ear, Hiro didn’t even want to think of what she’d do to him if he fessed up to everything else he’d been doing behind her back in secret so she wouldn’t go worrying about him.

-=+=–=+=–=+=-

Bundled up in a terrycloth towel that dwarfed her, Jubilee bowed her head as Rogue played an amateur stylist. The fingers run through her hair was enough to coax a stubborn smile after all the times Rogue had already managed embarrassed her in the span of her shower. It had all started when Honey popped in to steal her clothes with the promise of doing some laundry, and carried on as Rogue roughly towel dried her hair despite all her protests.

“Golly girl, ya sure ya want me to go cuttin’ your hair all short? Look how long it’s gotten.” Rogue asked.

Peeking into the mirror, Jubilee’s once short and spiky hair was almost shoulder length now. Looking at Rogue in comparison with her flowing tresses falling down past her shoulders, replete with her trademark streak of white, Jubilee bit her lip from her moment of indecision.

“You think it looks good longer?” Jubilee asked, her voice quiet with how unsure she was.

A snap of gum from GoGo was enough to have Jubilee look over to the girl who’d saved her from the dweeb in his lame rip off of Iron Man. GoGo had a poker face that would probably give Wolvie a run for his money, so she was no help.

“New clothes!” Honey announced in a burst of cold air from the hall.

“Whose?”

“Hiro’s.”

Wrinkling her nose, Jubilee didn’t like the idea of borrowing clothes from a boy she’d just met, but the T-shirt sold her on the idea. It looked like a band shirt of a band she’d like to get to know, and it looked pretty badass. The brand new looking socks were a nice bonus too, she hadn’t seen new socks since...well, all the months they’d been jumping from one world to the next. Even on the more regular worlds they were usually too busy running from one crazy incident or another.

Busy as she was checking out the clothes, Jubilee didn’t notice that Honey had crouched down with her until there was a phone in her face.

“Foto!”

Looking at the picture of her surprised self bundled up in a big bath towel with Honey at her side and Rogue smiling in from the back, Jubilee pursed her lips. Her longer hair didn’t look so bad given her company, between Rogue’s auburn locks and the gorgeous flowing blonde of Honey that shimmered when the light caught it, short and spiky seemed a little kiddy. She was almost fourteen after all...

“Fine, leave it long.” Jubilee mumbled.

Snatched up into an eager hug from Rogue, that was something Jubilee was still getting used to. Rogue was never really huggy for the one big obvious reason, so it looked like she was making up for lost time. But it was kind of nice, more than kind of really. Out of all of Logan’s friends she’d met in her time with the X-men, Rogue was the only one that didn’t try and play a mother hen like Jean or Ororo.

Rogue was kind of like what Jubilee imagined a big sister might be like, right down to embarrassing her in front of cute boys...

-=+=–=+=–=+=-

 

“Laser eyes?”

“...more akin to optic blasts.”

“Tingly fingers?”

“There is a woman I know whose touch would be described as, ahem, tingly.”

It had all started with asking Hank about all the worlds he and his friends had been to, and then asking him about their own world. Fred couldn’t even remember everything Hank had been talking about before the one word popped up that grabbed his attention, Mutant. His whole life had been validated in that moment, even more than when Hiro had upgraded them (or when he found a certain secret room in his house hidden behind the family portrait that his Dad trusted him to keep secret).

“Are you a mutant...?” Fred asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

Feeling his heart hammering away in his chest, Fred waited as Hank leaned in after a quick look around the room to see who was watching. Clenching his hands into fists that he couldn’t help but pound away at upon his knees, he was giddy to know the truth.

“If I can trust you to keep a secret,” Hank began in a hushed voice, and Fred eagerly nodded, “I am.”

Fred’s jaw dropped as he stared at Hank in a new light and with a new respect, the man was everything he hoped to be. “What can you do?!”

Pressing a finger to his lips to beg for quiet, Hank leaned in once more, “I was born with a preternatural dexterity, strength, as well as hands and feet far larger than that of most men. Thinking myself smarter than I was, I sought to keep all the benefits of my...gift, without the stigma of my mutation. Humility was a lesson I learned that day just as Doctor Jekyll had been so taught, a cautionary tale I ignored out of my pride.”

“What happened?”

Wide-eyed in awe, Fred hung on every word Hank spoke so quietly, he was a man who Fred longed to have read aloud all his favourite comic books.

“I sought to tame my bestial appearance, but lo did I not know how blessed I was with my overly large hands and feet. The beast I feared, and the beast I became, a blending of a cat and ape in blue fur and citrine eyes.”

“Whoa...” Fred gasped, “Wait, but you’re...?”

“Normal, it seems that which makes us so very extraordinary in our universe is little more than a harmless mutated gene in yours. It has intrigued me ever since we found ourselves in your San Fransokyo.”

“...you know what makes you,” Fred asked, pausing so he could lean in so close to Hank that their noses were nearly touching, “...Mutants?”

“I’ve studied our so called X-gene as my life’s work, I confess I would be delighted an opportunity to study just what might render it little more than junk DNA in this universe.”

And for the second time that night Fred was speechless, he might be a mutant and didn’t even know it just because it wasn’t Science in his universe. But as he and his friend’s had just learned, there were many more out there, including the one Hank and his own friends had come from.

“Forgive me if I’m being presumptuous, but might I take your flabbergasted silence as to mean you would be interested in the my research into this matter?”

“Mutants make Freddy so happy!” It was the Rocket Fist all over again, except a million times better.

-=+=–=+=–=+=-

It had started with a pretty lady asking for a hand bringing up a platter of wings, but before Remy knew it he was playing a barista for all the people coming in off the street searching for a cup of coffee. They weren’t presumptuous with their orders, only seeking one roast or another, a latte or perhaps an espresso to enjoy out front of the café at a little bistro set.

Indulging in a little small talk with a fellow who professed to be a regular that was curious to know if he had just started, Remy looked sidelong to the stairs that led to Aunt Cass’s place above the café. Legs he knew every curve of, legs he worshipped wandered down the stairs, his Rogue peeking down past the ceiling with an alluring smile that held all her secrets close to her chest.

Skipping down the last few steps, she wandered through the tables with an easy air, gathering up the cups and mugs and the plates of those who had finished with them. Remy watched those men who watched her, he felt the stirring of jealousy in his heart as he caught them admiring her in parting as she left in a sway of hips. Tiptoing past him, she rewarded him with a chaste peck on his cheek that told all her admirers just who the lucky man was, and Remy felt his heart swell and ache in that moment from his love for her.

“Aunt Cass will be a couple o’ minutes yet hun, so she asked if we could hold the fort for her until she gets back. She’s busy interrogating Jube’s new boyfriend about how they met.” Rogue teased with a whisper.

“She can take her time, I be enjoying myself anyway.” Remy confessed.

A hustler, a thief, and a lady’s man, he had played bartender and waiter alike as the role was demanded for a con. And as much as he enjoyed a good heist or hustle, it was relaxing to step back and dust off old skills he hadn’t used in years.

“A latte for the lady at the window.” Remy said to his Rogue who looked at him with a pleased smile as she took cup and saucer alike in hand.

Fixing the next order up, he watched his love play waitress. Watch was often all she’d ever let him do, she was a lady who kept her walls up, and what an effort it took to scale them that he might slip past her defences. To see Rogue wandering through the crowded shop with a giddy step, to see her melt into the friendly touch of a lady who drew her into a conversation about her hair, Remy didn’t bother to hide his smile.

Rogue didn’t have to be afraid of the crowds here, she didn’t have to worry over a careless touch in the bump and bustle of a busy street. She was free to let her walls come crumbling down, to let people in, and to act on her impulses she had learnt to deny for so long. That chaste kiss before was a promise of another as much as it was a reminder of their first.

With every order of coffee, cookie, or biscuit she came for, Rogue found another reason to brush him in passing, if even just a gentle whack of her hips to move him out of her way. Before long it became a game between them, and out among the regulars Remy saw that they had an audience who seemed to be enjoying the show.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself, neh?” Remy asked in a whisper as he leaned near his love for a cinnamon shaker.

Biting her lip in a way that set his heart racing, Rogue blushed and looked out to the tables she had been waiting without a worry, fret or fear of hurting anyone.

“And what if I am?” Rogue asked with a quirked eyebrow that dared him to ruin her fun.

“Maybe we see if Aunt Cass need help, no? My thieving days be over after all.”

“...think we could get you in one of those cute little aprons?” Rogue asked after a pause.

There was clear mischief in her eyes as she smiled at her man, and with Remy lingering so close she could smell just how badly he needed a shower. Oh the ideas that rose in her mind at that thought, born out of her newfound freedom.

“If it be an apron you want, then it will be an apron I will wear.” Remy promised with a kiss to her cheek, nuzzling his nose at her ear so he could enjoy the titter of her laughter.

Her smile was reward enough as she back peddled away, another order up to be whisked off in a sway of hips that danced to a music only she could hear. His Rogue was finally free to be herself, enjoying a moment to himself as he leaned at the empty counter to watch her chat up the customers.

“Maybe an honest life be not so bad, maybe we leave the hero business to someone else unless we really be needed?” Remy mused with a look to the stairs, thinking of the heros he’d just met that strove to keep San Fransokyo safe.

But that was a thought for later, a thought for the twilight hours when he would share a bed with his Rogue, his love, wherever that might yet be. The bell at the door told of another looking for a cup of coffee or perhaps some sweet treat, putting on his best smile as he greeted a college girl looking to sate her craving for a coffee and likely catch up on some studying.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

“What happened?!” Aunt Cass didn’t sound angry or anything, she was just being her usual worried self making sure everyone was okay.

“...I spilt something.” Jubilee lied.

“Hot Cocoa.” Hiro added, thinking quickly as he saw Aunt Cass’s look of alarm grow by degree, “...but it wasn’t that hot!”

“So he loaned me some clothes to wear...”

“Honey has hers in the wash.”

Finally Aunt Cass seemed like she was buying the reason why Jubilee had changed into some of Hiro’s clothes after a shower, it wasn’t like he could tell her the truth. Except now she was smiling at him bigger and brighter than she had downstairs when she’d been going on about him bringing home his first girl...

“Oh, you two make such a cute couple! Honey, please get a photo of them for me.”

...and Aunt Cass was right back to embarrassing him in front of everyone. That was when Hiro noticed how him and Jubilee looked like one of those old couples that liked to dress in matching tracksuits or the likes. It was enough to make him want to bang his head off his desk for being so stupid.

“So, where did you two meet?” Aunt Cass asked between the faux shutter of Honey playing photographer with her phone.

“...a ramen cart?” Jubilee offered, her eyes darting to Hiro to back her up.

“What caught your eye about him?” Forget a desk, Hiro wanted something that just might make him forget about this moment, like maybe a cement block wall.

“Uh, Baymax?” Even GoGo gave a snort of laughter at that answer.

Thanking his lucky star that Aunt Cass hadn’t been there when Baymax had dropped the bombshell about just where Jubilee and her friends were from, or at least introduced the catalyst that had Hank confess to that factoid, Hiro grabbed Jubilee by the hand to lead her to the wings. They couldn’t talk if they were eating, that was just bad manners after all...

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your new friends?” Aunt Cass asked with an elbow to his side, proving Hiro wrong for once about all the manners she’d taught him.

“This is Jubilee, he’s Hank,” Hiro said with a nod to each after a spicy swallow, “Rogue, and Remy was the guy who helped you bring up the wings.”

“Remy! I’m so sorry, I forgot all about him!” Looking plenty guilty, Aunt Cass was halfway to the stairs when Rogue waved her off.

“I’ll go tell that Swamp Rat y’all be a couple o’ minutes yet.” Rogue said as she wandered off down the stairs with a glint of a mischief in her smile that Hiro thought was meant for Jubilee.

“Sounds like Fred’s been handing out more nicknames.” Aunt Cass mused with a knowing smile.

Thankfully Fred was too busy scarfing down wings, in a way that had Wasabi lose his appetite, to correct her on this. That left Aunt Cass plenty of time to get to know Jubilee...

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

“Your Aunt’s pretty cool, kinda intense, but still cool.” Jubilee admitted at last.

The moment Aunt Cass had left to head back down to the café, Hiro had taken Jubilee by the hand once more to lead her to safety, which so just happened to be his room. She’d never really been in a boys room before, Bobby’s didn’t count even if he had more action figures than any grown many should. It was kind of what she always imagined, even if there was less laundry laying around than she expected, but for the most part it fit her mental image.

A bed, posters, toys that she was sure Hiro would call models, and a sick computer set up that she was sure no geek went without. Flopping down on his bed, it felt so soft and inviting after all the primitive or post-apocalyptic worlds she’d visited, she couldn’t help but sprawl out on it with a lazy yawn.

 

“Thanks.” Hiro mumbled from his slouched seat at his desk.

The elephant in the room was the shoji that drew her gaze, she imagined just what laid past the wood and paper shoji that marked where Hiro’s big brother half of their shared attic bedroom lay. The same big brother who had built Baymax. Tugging at her borrowed shirt that had ridden up with how she stretched, Jubilee thought music might be safer to talk about rather than just what had actually happened to his brother.

“What band is this?”

“Band?” asked Hiro, clearly confused.

Swinging her legs around as she scrambled to kneel on Hiro’s bed, Jubilee showed him the shirt he’d loaned her. He stared at her like she was clueless, which she actually was, but then a glint of understanding filled his eyes as if he just remembered she really was from a whole different world.

“It’s a crew, not a band. They’re bot fighters. I always used to dream about pitting my bot against theirs, Destructor himself.” Hiro admitted with a wistful smile of dreams that seemed silly in hindsight.

“Oh, and now?”

He looked at her like she should know the answer to that question, and now it was her turn to look at him dumbly until she felt silly for being so dense. He was out there saving the day for people who actually thanked him and his friends for everything. It made her want to ask Hank if that was what it felt like to be an Avenger, even a reserve one.

“What do you do when you’re not saving the day?”

“Go to school with the guys, it was Tadashi who finally convinced me I could be more than a bot fighter. That’s how I met everyone...”

“So, you’re like...college smart? And here I have trouble with math...”

Flopping back down on his bed, Jubilee stared up at the wood slat ceiling trying to think of something else to talk about when a decidedly cute face filled her view. And no, it wasn’t Baymax...

“Wanna see my lab?”

Given some of the big brains she’d met in her time with the X-men, that was a question Jubilee met with a sceptical look as she stared at Hiro.

“Uh, sure?” Well, at least it wasn’t like he’d have any alien tech laying around to get them in trouble.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

Between Honey, Hank and Fred, GoGo needed to get out for some fresh air. The three of them just fed off each other in an endless loop of chatty enthusiasm that was just too much for her to take. Thinking to snag a coffee, Rogue and Remy were still busy helping Aunt Cass downstairs, looking to be wholly enjoy themselves with a little flirting thrown in at the counter between orders. Getting two cups to go, she headed out to the back alley where she was sure she’d find Wasabi.

“Still looking at the specs?” GoGo asked as she flopped down in the passenger seat of Wasabi’s car, he was a guy who sometimes liked to do his thinking behind the wheel, even if the car was in park, “And since when could Baymax do that anyway? I mean, scanning humans sure, Tadashi built him that way...”

“Huh? Oh, that? Hiro and I figured out how to tweak Baymax’s hyperspectral cameras. I thought it might be a good idea to know just what kind of tech we’re up against in the field.” said Wasabi, roused from the distraction of his tablet.

Sipping her coffee as she considered this, GoGo threw on the radio to a preset both she and Wasabi could agree on. He finally seemed to notice that she’d gotten him his usual, sitting neglected as it was in the driver side cup holder.

“So, do you believe them? That they’re really from another world?”

“Maybe, possibly, I...I don’t know? I mean, I can’t even make sense of this tech, I just want to run it by the Professor like we always used to...”

Even if he was the one to mention Professor Callaghan, Wasabi wilted as he thought of their mentor. They’d all gone to visit him a few times since the trial had ended, hoping to find some sense of closure, but if anything it just made it seem all the more tragic after seeing the reunion of father and daughter

Sitting hunched up in the passenger seat with her feet against the dash, that right there told GoGo just how distracted Wasabi was if he wasn’t giving her all kinds of grief for getting his car dirty. But he was right, the only person she trusted to make any sense of it all was the Professor.

“We could always ask Alistair?” Wasabi seemed to be as skeptical, despite throwing the idea out there himself.

Blowing against her takeout lid just to hear it whistle, GoGo had been thinking about the head of Krei Tech too. Not only had Alistair put in a good word at Professor Callaghan’s trial (along with probably calling in a few favours that might have helped with the Professor getting sent to a cushy minimum security prison), but if anything Alistair seemed to take his near death experience as a second chance to do better with his influence and fortune.

What it all came down to was needing someone to back up the claims of four strangers, that however earnest they seem, claimed the impossible...or at least improbable, that they were from another world. And then GoGo wanted to tell herself to Woman Up for being so stupid, here she was supposed to be a nerd...

“What about Abigail?”

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

It all seemed like a good idea back before notes had been left and buses had been taken. It was all his own fault really, but bot fighting was a hard habit to kick. Fixing the ones Hank had bought had been easy enough, literal child’s play to him. Teaching Jubilee the basics had lead to her challenging him with the thrift shop bots, all until she had asked that one question that had led to this whole mess...What’s a real bot fight like?

“Wow, dude’s straight up Yakuza.” Jubilee marvelled, pointing out a guy with a back covered by intricate tattoos, “So, how do I bet?”

“Bet?”

Flashing a twenty with a mischievous smile, Jubilee grinned at him. Her smile was infectious, it did things to him, like make it hard to say no to her. But this was his world, in more ways than one. “Lets watch the first few fights so I can get a feel for the bots.”

“Kinda like checking out horses before the race?” asked Jubilee with a thoughtful cock of her eyes.

“You’ve been to a horse race?”

“I’m not saying I have, I’m just saying that maybe Remy took me to some place where they served up an awesome hot dog, and that I may or may not have learned a few things that he thought any girl my age should know.”

As a one time bot fighter (and just maybe a hustler), Hiro wondered if his eyes had the same twinkle in them back when he’d rationalized the differences between what was illegal and what wasn’t when it came to bot fighting. Regardless, by the third fight he had a feel for the bots that Jubilee had spent the next four turning her twenty bucks into just shy of four hundred.

“So, what’s the buy in?” Jubilee stood counting her winnings with an eye to the ring, and now Hiro knew he was in trouble.

“You didn’t?!” hissed Hiro.

Beaming brightly at him, Jubilee pulled out her borrowed knapsack the bot that had beaten his own thrift shop bot each time they'd fought. He'd cobbled together one bot out of the best of two that Hank had bought to make it, so maybe that was the reason he was having so much trouble trying to say no to her.

“It’s usually two hundred...”

Squinting as she counted her cash, Jubilee looked to the ring with the critical eye of someone who was used to fighting. Stripping off two hundred from her winnings, she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, “Wish me luck!”

Struck dumb, all Hiro could do was watch as Jubilee bulled her way through the crowd up to the ring with her little Jump Rope bot that he’d made for her. Left breathless to try and shout after her, he did the only thing he could, bet on the horse he thought would win. That was when he noticed the little wad of cash that had been stuffed into his hand, all the rest of her winnings.

“Where’s Baymax when I need him?” Hiro whimpered as he joined the rest who were ready to place their bets on the next fight.

Of course he knew the answer to that, Baymax was right where he’d left him, charging on his station back at home. It was just him and Jubilee tonight jumping down that rabbit hole of illegal bot fighting. Hiro could already hear Aunt Cass yelling at him if he needed to be bailed out again...at least it wasn’t Beat Poetry Night.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-


End file.
